Speech And Debate Canada Foundation

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Speech And Debate Canada Foundation

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Speech and Debate Canada is a national not-for-profit organization that brings debate clubs to Canadian youth.

10/28/2026

Most feedback is forgotten by tomorrow. So here's how to give some that actually sticks (in a good way).

🥇 Be specific!
As feedback, "Good job" doesn't really help anyone. Compare it instead to something like this: "Your third point landed well, but you moved on before it could really hit. Maybe you could pause after your evidence to make it have a heavier impact?" That's something they can use!

🥈You are not your speech
Separate the person from the performance. Feedback is about what happened in this speech, not who they are as a person. Just like how attacking the person instead of the argument in a debate isn't good (the Ad hominem fallacy), the same goes for feedback.

🥉 Prioritize what you want to say
Three pieces of feedback are actionable, but eight? That can feel overwhelming to the person receiving it. When providing feedback in a constructive way, especially if it isn't formal feedback, try to consider one thing that, if improved, changes the whole performance.

4️⃣ End with a question
Make delivering feedback a conversation, and see how it changes the person's self-awareness and power in the interaction. Asking, "What did you feel during that section?" helps them build self-awareness and brings them into the conversation, so it isn't just one-sided. This not only lets them participate in their own improvement and get further clarification on your feedback points, but it also makes the conversation more memorable for both of you.

Want more speech & debate tips! Be sure to follow us or check out the resources available on our site: https://www.speechanddebatecanada.com/

10/26/2026

With Soapbox, every debate comes with feedback.

Running a one-on-one debate for every student in class would take days, and grading them all by hand would take hours. Soapbox handles both.

It runs each debate on the platform, scores every student on your weighted criteria, writes up what worked and what to improve, and rolls the results into a picture of the whole class. Live assessment that means less work, not more!

Learn more about how it works at https://soapboxdebate.com/

10/24/2026

Debate doesn’t end when the tournament does. For many students, it’s where their future careers begin.

From Justice Ranjan Agarwal’s career in law as a sitting justice in Ontario to Nikhil Gowd’s work in public policy and Scott Stirrett’s leadership at Venture for Canada, the Speech & Debate Canada Foundation community demonstrates how debate skills translate into diverse professional paths.

Critical thinking, persuasive communication, and the ability to engage with opposing perspectives aren’t just competition skills. They’re tools used in courtrooms, boardrooms, classrooms, and communities every day.

Ultimately, debate isn’t about creating professional debaters. It’s about equipping people to succeed wherever life takes them. The trophies may gather dust, but the skills last a lifetime.

10/21/2026

If you could go to for free, would you? 🧑‍🎓

If so, check out the Wolf Scholars Program ()!

Each year, this program selects 16 exceptional incoming undergraduates from the University of Toronto's Faculty of Arts & Science and Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. They'll form a tight-knit cohort and, over four years, Scholars will engage in an enrichment program designed to further sharpen their critical thinking skills, foster their intellectual curiosity across disciplines, and prepare them to tackle the challenges facing their generation.

Beyond funded travel and leadership development experiences, Scholars will receive a full tuition scholarship and a meaningful living stipend.

Visit the official Wolf Scholars website to learn more: https://www.wolfscholars.com/apply

⏰📅 Important: Applications are due November 2, 2026, at 11:59 AM ET!

10/19/2026

This Wednesday, October 21st, we invite you to our Workshop on British Parliament!

Online via Zoom from 7:00 – 9:30 PM, your instructor will be Arghya Dev Biswas A***n (Dev), a speech & debate alumni with 15+ years of experience as debater, adjudicator, administrator, AC member, mentor, and coach.

Our guest speaker is retired Lieutenant General Christopher Coates, who brings extensive experience in defence and security. Retiring as a lieutenant-general after 34 years, he served in senior leadership positions of the Canadian military alongside Canada’s allies and defence partners.

This event is open to all Canadian students. Students do not need to be existing S&DCF students to attend!

Register now: https://forms.gle/PAQRa8e5f5pvny4bA

10/17/2026

Debate is built on a cycle of practice, feedback, and refinement. Students present arguments, receive criticism, reconsider their reasoning, and try again. But this process does more than produce stronger debaters; it reveals what makes an exceptional teacher.

Great debate coaches understand that feedback should do more than identify mistakes. It should help students understand why their reasoning falls short and how to improve it. Rather than simply correcting an argument, they equip students with the tools to evaluate their own thinking.

Importantly, this feedback loop works both ways. When students repeatedly struggle with a concept, an exceptional coach recognizes an opportunity to reconsider their teaching approach. Perhaps the explanation needs to be clearer, the examples more relatable, or the exercise more practical. In this way, coaches learn from their students just as students learn from them.

Ultimately, exceptional teaching is not about having all the answers; it is about creating a process through which better answers emerge. Debate coaches excel when they treat feedback not as a verdict on performance, but as an invitation to grow. The goal is not to create students who never make mistakes, but learners who know how to recognize, learn from, and improve upon them.

10/14/2026

We've all been there.

You're in the middle of an argument or debate, and you've just made a claim. Then, it happens. The opponent found a gap, and your argument falls apart from there.

What you do in the next 30 seconds is what actually matters.

➡️ Swipe through to see the quick steps you can take to salvage an imperfect argument!

This is one of the most transferable skills debate builds; not the ability to be perfect, but the ability to recover well when you aren't.

These tips work in debates, presentations, job interviews, and every hard conversation in between!

10/13/2026

Let's get to work! 💪

We're offering a Workshop on BP on Zoom from 7:00 – 9:30 PM on Wednesday, October 21st.

Your instructor will be Arghya Dev Biswas A***n (Dev), who has 15+ years in speech & debate as a debater, adjudicator, administrator, AC member, mentor, and coach.

The guest speaker? Retired Lieutenant General Christopher Coates, who brings extensive experience in defence and security. Retiring as a lieutenant-general after 34 years, he served in senior leadership positions in the Canadian military alongside Canada’s allies and defence partners, and also served as Director of Operation at NORAD for 3 years.

We are excited to have him in attendance and look forward to student interaction with him!

The evening will unfold in Eastern Time as follows:
7:00 – 7:30 – Dev will present a workshop on BP – the style, how it works, etc.
7:30 – 8:05 – LG Coates will speak for about 10 minutes + Q&A session
8:05 – 8:10 – Motion and pairing for anyone without a partner
8:10 – 8:30 – Prep Time
8:30 – 9:30 – Round of BP for students who wish to partake (if you prefer to just watch the round, please let us know by checking the correct box in the registration form!)

There is NO COST to attend this event!

Registration here 👉 https://forms.gle/PAQRa8e5f5pvny4bA

Zoom links will be sent out by the end of the day on Tuesday, October 20th, 2026

10/12/2026

This Thanksgiving, we're grateful for every student who walked into their first round nervous and came out different.

For every coach who stayed late to prep a case, give feedback, or just listen.

For every parent who drove three hours to a tournament because they knew what it meant to their child to participate.

For every educator who said 'we should start a debate club' and actually did.

For every donor who believed that a student's ability to think critically and speak and lead shouldn't depend on where they were born or what their family can afford.

Debate is built by people who care, from coast to coast to coast. We're thankful to be surrounded by so many of them ❤️

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada! 🍁

📸 Photography by Janylah Etienne on

10/10/2026

Performing under pressure isn’t just about confidence. It’s about preparation, adaptability, and recovery.

Debaters build these skills in four ways:

* Overprepare: Research arguments, anticipate rebuttals, and practise until the material becomes familiar enough to adapt on the spot.

* Practise being interrupted: Handle challenging questions and unexpected objections without losing composure or focus.

* Develop a reset routine: Pause, breathe, and refocus after a difficult moment instead of letting one mistake derail an entire performance.

* Debrief every performance: Reflect on what worked, identify areas for improvement, and turn mistakes into actionable lessons.

These skills extend far beyond debate. Students learn that resilience isn’t about getting everything right the first time; it’s about responding to challenges, recovering from setbacks, and improving with every attempt.

The goal isn’t to eliminate pressure. It’s to prepare students to perform through it.

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